Associate publisher of Skira Rizzoli Publications Karen Hansgen died on Sunday, January 10. Her family has just announced a memorial service for her tomorrow, on Friday, January 15 at 2:00 PM at: Brooklyn Friends Meeting House110 Schermerhorn StreetBrooklyn, New York 11201(718) 788-5990
Personnel
People, and A New Funke
Laney Katz Becker has joined the Markson Thoma Literary Agency as an agent. She was previously at Folio Literary Management. Former publisher of Harcourt Children’s Lori Benton has joined educational children’s publisher Capstone as general manager/publisher of their fiction imprints, which include Stone Arch Books and Picture Window Books.Cornelia Funke‘s next book RECKLESS (and the first in a new series) will have an international laydown on September 14. Little, Brown Children’s says they will print a million copies for the US market, joined on publication date with releases from Chicken House in the UK and Dressler in Germany. The book […]
People
Direct Brands has hired David Gitow as chief marketing officer and Alan Katz as evp, business development, the first major appointments under new ceo Deborah Fine. Gitow was cmo at both BN.com and Barnes & Noble, and in a long time stretch at Time, Inc. founded and ran Time, Inc. Home Entertainment. Katz has had a long career in magazine publishing, including executive positions at Vanity Fair and New York. BookEnds Literary Agency co-founder Jacky Sach will retire from publishing after 10 years as an agent for “new opportunities.” Sach began her publishing career in 1985 at Berkley. BookEnds will […]
Founder Buys Back Stone Bridge; Quirk Announces 'Android Karenina'; Jacky Sach to Retire, and More
Founder of Stone Bridge Press Peter Goodman has reacquired 100 percent of the company’s shares from its Japanese owner, IBC Publishing of Tokyo. Goodman sold Stone Bridge to Japanese book distributor Yohan in 2005 and passed to its one-time subsidiary IBC in 2007 right before Yohan declared bankruptcy. Goodman, who has been an executive at Stone Bridge since its founding in 1989, will continue to lead the company as publisher and editor-in-chief from their current offices near North Berkeley, CA. He notes, “The Japanese owners at IBC have always been generous in spirit, and they did the best they could […]
Pfeffer Joins East/West Agency, and More People News
Former svp, group publisher of Simon & Schuster Children’s Trade imprints Rubin Pfeffer has joined the East/West Literary Agency, heading up the East Coast office in Boston as a partner, digital strategist, and content agent, a new position “focused on developing and creating content for the 21st -century incarnations of publishing, both electronic and traditional print.” Pfeffer says, “The value that I hope to offer East/West and the clients that I represent is being nimble and opportunistic about how their intellectual property can be leveraged effectively in this dawn of electronic publishing. There are many more options for writers and […]
Laura Hruska, 74, Dies
Laura Hruska, co-founder of the Soho Press in 1986 (along with her husband, Alan Hruska, and their friend Juris Jurjevics) died Saturday at her home in Manhattan. While at Soho, Hruska helped to launch the careers of many prominent writers, including Edwidge Danticat, whose novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory began as a short story submitted to Laura. Other notable Soho authors have included Dan Fesperman, Robert Hellenga, Susan Richards, Garth Stein, and Jacqueline Winspear. As of January 1 Hruska’s daughter Bronwen Hruska took over as publisher of Soho Press. There will be a memorial service on Friday, January 15, at 11:30 […]